Mia's Open Heart (Choices Open Heart AU)

Chapter 54: Long Awaited

After the request for the anesthesiologist, the nurse paged one, and one arrived within minutes. He brought along with her the anesthesia and the materials he needed in order to administer the medication.

Ethan watched in speechless terror. On one side he had his newborn son, an innocent child alive for mere minutes. Around this time, fathers go to the newborns and cut the umbilical cord, weigh them, be beside them so they have someone of their own beside them. But on the other end, he had the woman of his dreams, who had just gone through hell bringing their son into the world, and still had their second child within her. She was slowly slipping, there were going to perform emergency major surgery on her in order to save the baby, and her. They were both in danger.

"We got him, go be with her." the labor nurse working with his son said.

He rushed over to Mia's side, taking action. He had been in this position many times, this same powerless position. But she had been in the same painful, afraid position before too, and he promised to be beside her through it all.

He could tell from the slow opening and closing of her eyes that she was feeling weak from the blood oxygen levels. Once Ethan came to her side, she started tearing up again, in fear.

"It will be fine, you hear me?" Ethan said. "They are going to get that baby out of there, and I'm going to make sure they are okay and when you wake up right after, you'll be able to see them and hold them. And I'll get you all the food and gifts you want because you deserve them, but to do all that you need to pull through, okay?"

Ethan grabbed her hand, and she squeezed back, weakly but assuringly.

She was afraid, cursing her stupid luck. Had the epidural worked, they would have been able to do the c-section without the anesthesia and she could have stayed up for the moment when her second child would be born.

The anesthesiologist placed the mask to administer the anesthesia to her while Dr. Sandoval quickly worked to prep her. Mia looked to Ethan, who refused to let go of her hand, he knew what she was thinking; she hated those stupid masks.

Mia slowly drifted off within 10 seconds, and even though her hand went limp, Ethan refused to let go. He let her hand rest down against the bed, his hand resting atop her.

Within minutes due to the emergency at hand, Dr. Sandoval cut into Mia's abdomen and delivered the second baby, which they took over immediately to be assessed. Ethan waited to hear that relieving cry, but it wouldn't come. He got up and walked over to the babies, and as if the second baby had sensed his presence, it started crying a loud, strong cry.

Apparently, he was unable to catch a break, because he started to hear commotion behind him, where his unconscious wife laid.

He turned around and all he could see was blood. Blood on the floor, blood on the doctor and nurse's scrubs, deep red blood that triggered an instant emotion of intense fear.

"What's going on?" Ethan asked, shocked at the scene. "Sandoval!"

"She's hemorrhaging blood." Sandoval said, working on Mia as best as she could. "Her oxygen level stablized, but she started massively hemorrhaging blood."

'This is how people die.' Ethan thought. 'This is how women die from giving birth, they bleed out to death.'

Ethan regretted letting go of her hand, and so he rushed back to sit beside her. This time he gripped her hand, holding on for dear life.

Ethan was a doctor, and therefore a practical thinker. She was on general anesthesia, asleep and unable to feel him hold her hand, or hear the pleas he has for her. All practical thinking went out the window when Mia was involved.